Log lifting and turning machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model .1

F. SIMONSON; LOG- LIFTING AND TURNING MACHINE.

No. 448,588. Patented Ma r. 17,189.11.

5140a Wcoz (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. SIMONSON. LOG LIFTING AND TURNING MACHINE.

N0. 448,588. Patented M81217; 1.881.

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(N0 Modei.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

P. SIMONSON.

LOG LIFTING AND TURNING MACHINE;

No. 448,588. Patented Mar. 17, 1891.

lmitmeoaeo gnvewlioz UNlTE terns FFlQEe FLAVEL SIMONSON, OF BATESVILLE, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE H. CHAMBERLAIN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

LOG LIFTING AND TURNING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,588, dated March 17, 1891.

Application filed October 16, 1889. Serial No. 327,168. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FLAVEL SnnoNsoN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Batesville, in the county of Independence and State of Arkansas, have invented an Improved Log Lifting and Turning Machine, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to an improved log lifting and turning machine; and it has for its object the production of a machine whereby the log may be lifted from the logways, pushed on to the saw-mill carriage, and drawn clear of the carriage in the operation of turning it, the cant-hook operating automatically to engage with the log or to pass clear of it at pleasure.

The invention will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of the machine with the parts in position for turning the log, one of the logways being partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine at rest, a portion of the floor of the mill being broken away to show the mechanism that reciprocates the operating-bar. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the machine at rest, taken on the line so a: of Fig. 2. Fig. is a longitudinal section of the machine in the position shown in Fig. 1, taken on the line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail View, partly in section, of the hook-weight, showing the manner of its attachment to the rock-shaft.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A represents the floor of the mill, on which the machine is set.

13 are the logways, constructed in the usual manner, each having an abutment at 73, against which the log rests when the machine is not in operation. v

C is the head-block of the log-carrier,which is slightly elevated above the plane of the forward ends of the logways for an obvious purpose.

011 each end of the rock-shaft outside of the pillow-block, and E are standards for supporting these arms when the machine is at rest.

F are the log-lifters, two or more, each pivoted at its rear end to a standard F, secured to the floor, its forward free end resting on a cam G, secured to the rock-shaft in such position that the lifter will be in its lowest position when the machine is at rest, as will be seen in Fig. 3, the lifter being provided with flangesf for holding it on the cam. The upper edge of the front end of each lifter is beveled off to a sharp point, as atf', for a purpose which will hereinafter appear.

In Patent No. 408,760, granted to me Au gust 13, 1889, the log-lifters are shown and described as pivoted at their rear ends to the logways, these lifters being made of wooden planks. That arrangement of the log-lifters has been found to be objectionable for the reason that bark and splinters of wood frequently get between them and the logways and prevent their free action. By mounting the lifters on standards away from and independent of the logways I avoid this objection, which is a serious matter when the rapidity with which the machine is required to be worked is taken into consideration.

H represents the hook, whose pivotal end is bifurcated, one branch h of this bifurcated portion being considerably longer than the other, as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, and at.

The hook II is pivoted between two supportingarnis I J, rigidly secured on the rockshaft, the pivot-bolt 1 passing through the bifurcated part of the hook, for a purpose explained hereinafter. Another bolt 2 passes through the arms I J below the hook, which prevents the latter from falling too low when the machine is at rest, as seen in Fig. 2.

K represents a reciprocating operating-bar, working in any suitable housing K, and L is a pitman, one end of which is pivoted on a bolt 3, passed transversely through the forward end of bar K and through the housing K,

the latter being slotted, as at k, to permit of the reciprocation of said bolt. This housing, however, is not considered an essential element of my machine, as any other convenient means for guiding the operating-bar may be ing the shaft R between collars 1' r thereon.

employed. pivoted on a bolt 4: in the bifurcated portion of the hook below bolt 1, on which the hook is pivoted, as seen in Fig. 4:.

For the purpose of holding the hook in an elevated position, so as to clear the log after the latter has been pushed to its place on the head-block, I employ what I term a hookweight M, which is a bar of metal having a slot on in one end and provided with a fixed radial pin on, which extends a short distance into the slot. The hook-weight is loosely mounted on the rock-shaft between the arms I J, and, by reason of its slot, is capable of a slight longitudinal movement thereon, so that the pin m may engage with or be disengaged from a shallow radial hole (1 in the rock-shaft, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. A chain 0 connects the free end of the weight with the rear end of branch h of the hook.

One of the hook-supporting arms I is made in the form of a bell-crank, the rear arm of which has a lateral projection 1', serving as a support for the free end of the weight M at such time as the hook is to engage with the log, as seen in Fig. 1, the projection itself being shown also in Fig. 5.

The rear end of the pitman L has a shoulder Z, which abuts against the rear arm of the bellcrank I when the rockshaft has been turned sufficient to cause the pushing-arms E to place the log in its proper position upon the headblock, and thus prevents these arms from further crowding the log, and immediately above this shoulder the pitman has an integral finger Z, which serves to push the weight M forward, and thus cause it to drop off from its support 2', which results in.its holding the hook elevated, it being understood that the floor of the mill is out out, as at a, to permit the downward swing of both the weight and the bell-crank I.

Any convenient and effective means may be employed to reciprocate the operating-bar K, the mechanism shown serving the purpose very well. In this case the bar has teeth formed 011 its underside, into which mesh the teeth of a gear-wheel N, mounted on a short transverse shaft 0, suitably journaled beneath the floor, the said shaft carrying also a beveled friction-wheel P, with which two other beveled friction-wheels Q engage alternately. These wheels Q are keyed on a longitudinal shaft R, supported beneath the floor in a manner to permit of its movementlongitudinally, so as to put either one of the wheels Q into engagement with wheel 1, according to the direction in which the operating-bar is to be moved. This movement is imparted to the shaft R by means of a lever S, pivoted horizontally beneath the floor, as at s, to whose outer end is secured one end of a vertical lever T, which extends upward through the floor and is pivoted at t to a standard U, the inner end of the lever loosely embrac- The forward end of thepitman is Shaft R is provided with a band-pulley V,

5 over which passes a belt W, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) leading from any suitable motor.

The operation of my machine is as follows: Assuming that there is a log on the logways resting against the abutments Z) and on the log-lifters F. then when it is desired to place the log upon the carriage the operatorthrows lever T in the direction to put the frictionwheels into gear to drive the operating-bar forward. This movement of that bar through the pitman and arms I Jturns the rock-shaft forward, when the cams G will raise the log lifters and the log thereon to a plane slightly above that of the carriage. By this timethe pushing-arms E and also the hook-supporting arms I J will bear against the log and as the rock-shaft continues to turn, these arms will push the log forward until it reaches its proper place upon the head-block, by which time the shoulder Z on the pitman will have come into contact with the rear end of the bell-crank I, as before stated, and arrest any further forward turning of the rock-shaft, and consequently of the pushing-arms. The hook will of course be prevented from rising so long as its supporting-arms are against the log. The log being new on the head-block, the operator reverses the motion of the operating-bar, which results in drawing down the hook-supporting arms, thus turning the rockshaft and lowering the log-lifters and the pushing-arms. Now when the operator desires to turn the log, he again causes the operating-bar to move forward, when the pitman will throw the hook up. It will be understood that the pitman is pivoted to the hook below the pivotal point of the hook in its arms. The hook-weight M now rests on its support 1', thus leaving its chain slack, in order that the hook may be canted forward at the proper time to engage with the log. In this operation the operating-bar is not allowed to make quite a full forward movement in order that the ook-weight may not be pushed off of its support by the finger Z on the pitman, but it does move forward far enough to permit the hook to drop over the log. Then the operator again reverses the movement of the operating-bar to swing the hook down onto the log, and as the said bar continues to recede the log is drawn partially off of the head-block and against the sharp ends f of the log-lifters. Then as the hook swings in the are of a circle the log is turned, and meanwhile drawn clear of the head-block and onto the logways. The sharp ends of the lifters serve a very useful purpose in that they will not permit the log to slip,no matter what its condition may be, whether without bark or having thin, thick, or loose bark. This would not be the case were the ends of the log-lifters blunt, for then the log would be very apt to slip if it were without bark or having loose bark. The log now having been turned, the operator again causes the operating-bar to move forward to push the log back onto the head-block again, in the manner before described. The free end of the hook-weight now rests on its support 5, with its pin m in the hole cl in the rock-shaft, and as the operating-rod is given its full forward throw the finger Z on the pitma-n strikes against the end of .the weight and pushes it off from its support, the slot m permitting this movement. As the hook-weight is thus pushed forward, of course its pin on will be thrown out of the hole d in the rock-shaft, and then when the weight drops the pin will be carried around onto the circumference of the shaft. The weight being new in its lowered position the rear end of the hook will be drawn down, thus throwing the hook portion up out of the way of the log and permitting the pushing-arms to replace the log upon the head-block. The hook is prevented from turning over backward under the influence of the weight by reason of its pivot-bolt 1 coming into contact with the upper edge of the pitman. When the machine is brought to rest, the rock-shaft will be in position to permit the pin m to. again drop into the hole (Z, thus lowering the weight until its lower end passes beyond the support 2' 011 the bell-crank I, so that when the machine is again started the bell-crank will carry the weight up with it.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the logways, of a rock-shaft suitably mounted between said logways at their forward ends, cams secured on said shaft, standards placed between but independent of the logways, and lifting-levers whose rear ends are pivoted in said standards and whose forward ends rest on the cams, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the logways, of a rock-shaft suitably mounted between said logways attheir forward ends, cams secured on said shaft, and log-lifters, each having a sharp projection on its front end, the forward ends of said lifters resting on the cams and their rear ends pivoted on any suitable support, for the purposes stated.

3. The combination, with the rock-shaft, of the hook, a support on which the hook is pivoted secured to said shaft, an operating-bar, and a pitman, the rear end of the latter being pivoted to the operating-bar and its forward end pivoted to the hook below the point at which the hook is pivoted to its support, whereby in the movements of the operatingbar the hook is automatically raised and lowered and the shaft rocked, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the logways, of a rock-shaft between them, pushing-arms secured to said shaft, cams also secured to the shaft, log-lifters pivoted at their rear ends to suitable supports, their forward ends resting on said cams, a hook pivoted on a support secured to the rock-shaft, and mechanism for rocking the shaft, the hook being automatically raised and lowered by the mechanism that rocks the shaft to raise the litters and throw the pushing-arms forward.

5. The combination, with the rock-shaft, of a hook having a bifurcated shank, two arms secured to the shaftbetwecn which the hook is pivoted bya bolt passing through its'bifurcated portion and into said arms, a reciprocating operating-bar, and a pitman, the rear end of the latter pivoted to said bar and its forward end pivoted in the bifurcation of the hook below the bolt on which the hook is pivoted, whereby in the forward movement of the operating-bar the hook is raised and prevented from falling backward and the shaft rocked, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the rock-shaft and the pushing-arms secured thereon, of a bell-crank secured to the shaft, a hook pivoted on the bell=crank, an operating-bar, and a pitman pivoted to said bar and to the hook, the pitman having a shoulder which engages with the bell-crank to limit the forward rocking of the shaft, whereby the pushing-arms are prevented from pressing against the log after the latter has been pushed to its place on the head-block, substantially as described.

7. In a log lifting and turning machine, the combination of a rock-shaft, a hook pivoted on a support secured to said shaft, mechanism for rocking the shaft and canting the hook, and an automatically-actuated device for holding the hook elevated at the will of the operator, for the purposes stated.

8. In a log liftingand turning machine, the combination of a rock-shaft, a hook pivoted on a support secured to said shaft, mechanism for rocking the shaft and canting the hook, and an automatically-actuated weight .connected to the hook for holding the latter elevated at the will of the operator.

9. In a log lifting and turning machine, the combination of a rock-shaft, a hook pivoted to a support secured to said shaft, mechanism for rocking the shaft and canting the hook, a weight hung at one end upon the rock-shaft, its other end resting normally upon a suitable support and connected to the hook, and means for automatically dropping the weight to hold the hook elevated at the will of the operator, for the purposes stated.

10. The combination, with the rock-shaft having a shallow hole serving as a pin-seat, of a bell-crank secured to the shaft and having a lateral projection on its rear arm for the support of the free end of the hookweight, a hook pivoted 011 the bell-crank, a hook-weight having an elongated opening through one end, which end is placed over the rock-shaft next to the bell-crank, and also having a radial pin extending into said opening in position to register at the proper IIO time with the pin-seat in the rock-shaft, a IntestimonywhereofIatfixniysignatui'ein chain connecting the free end of said Weight presence of two witnesses. with the shank of the hook, an opera ingbar, and a pitman pivoted to said bar and t0 FLAYEL SIMONSON. the hook, the pitman being provided with a finger for pushing the hook-weight off from \Vitnesses:

its support when the hook is to be held in an \VM. HUNTER MYERs,

elevated position, substantially as described. ALBERT SPEIDEN. 

